Washington — Michael Hammond, who became chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts just a week ago, died Tuesday, apparently of natural causes. He was 69.
A native of Kenosha, Wis., the conductor and composer had been dean of the School of Music at Rice University in Houston when President Bush nominated him to lead the federal agency that decides grants for the arts. After being confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 20, Hammond had assumed the post Jan. 22 and was still in the process of moving to Washington.
A student of music and medicine, Hammond's interests included music from Southeast Asia, the Renaissance and medieval times and the intersection between music and neuroscience.
He received a Rhodes scholarship to study philosophy, psychology and physiology at Oxford University. He also studied Indian philosophy and music at Dehli University in India.
In 1968, he left his post as director of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee to become the founding dean of music at the State University of New York at Purchase. He later served as president of the school, until he left for Rice's Shepherd School of Music in 1986.
Hammond also served as the founding rector of the Prague Mozart Academy in the Czech Republic.
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